United States v. Stephon Williams

JORDAN, Circuit Judge:

Divided loyalties often prove to be a source of mischief in human relations. As this case illustrates, they can also cause serious trouble for an attorney and his client.

Following a seven-day trial, a jury convicted Stephon Williams of a federal narcotics conspiracy offense. See 21 U.S.C. § 846 . Kim Minix represented Mr. Williams at trial. At the time of trial, Mr. Minix was also representing Tyree Bennett, a government witness who was then appealing his own sentence after pleading guilty to federal narcotics charges. Although Mr. Minix knew that Mr. Bennett had been…